Inclus a summary of rearch fdgs on lbian mothers, gay fathers and their children, an annotated biblgraphy of the published psychologil lerature and addnal rourc relevant to lbian and gay parentg.
Contents:
- PARENTS’ FLUENCE ON LBIAN, GAY, OR BISEXUAL TEENS
- WHAT DO THE SCHOLARLY REARCH SAY ABOUT THE WELL-BEG OF CHILDREN WH GAY OR LBIAN PARENTS?
- LBIAN AND GAY PARENTG
PARENTS’ FLUENCE ON LBIAN, GAY, OR BISEXUAL TEENS
Of 77 adult children of homosexual parents who volunteered for three different vtigatns, at least 23 (30%) were currently homosexual: twelve (55%) of 22 dghters and three (21%) of fourteen sons of lbians; five (29%) of seventeen dghters and three (17%) of eighteen sons of gays; none of six sons wh both a gay and a lbian parent.
At most a handful of the children who were studied were actually raised by same-sex parents; the rt me om fai which oppose-sex parents raised their children for a perd of time, but which, often, one or more parent(s) subsequently me out as gay or lbian and left the fay or had a same-sex relatnship. Includg such children among those labeled as havg been “raised by same-sex parents” is so misleadg as to be accurate, sce the children were generally raised by oppose-sex fai and only later, after a fay disptn, did they live hoeholds wh one or more gay parent(s), and only rarely did two parents of the same sex, a stable, long-term relatnship, actually raise the children together. Authors of the outlier studi argue that, neverthels, such nfiguratns often reprent fai wh gay or lbian parents, and hence is reasonable to unt them as ditors of what happens when children live wh one or more gay parent(s).
Evaluatg Studi that Fd No Differenc Rultg om Havg a Gay Parent: Some crics of the LGB parentg rearch object to the small, non-random samplg methods known as “nvenience samplg” that rearchers the field often e to gather their data.
WHAT DO THE SCHOLARLY REARCH SAY ABOUT THE WELL-BEG OF CHILDREN WH GAY OR LBIAN PARENTS?
The prev edn, which was tled Lbian and Gay Parentg: A Rource for Psychologists (1995) was the succsor to a publitn tled Lbian Parents and Their Children: A Rource Paper for Psychologists that was jotly produced by CLGBC and CWP 1991. Unlike heterosexual parents and their children, however, lbian and gay parents and their children are often subject to prejudice bee of their sexual orientatn that n turn judg, legislators, profsnals, and the public agast them, sometim rultg negative out, such as loss of physil ctody, rtrictns on visatn, and prohibns agast adoptn (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Appell, 2003; Patterson, Fulcher, & Waright, 2002).
As wh beliefs about other socially stigmatized groups, the beliefs held generally society about lbians and gay men are often not based personal experience, but are equently culturally transmted (Herek, 1995; Gillis, 1998). Systematic rearch on the children of lbian and gay parents began to appear major profsnal journals the late 1970s and has grown to a nsirable body of rearch only recent years (Allen & Demo, 1995; Patterson, 1992, 2000). As this summary will show, the rults of existg rearch parg lbian and gay parents to heterosexual parents and children of lbian and gay parents to children of heterosexual parents are que clear: Common stereotyp are not supported by the data.
The relevance of this cricism has been greatly rced as rearch has expand to explore life a wir array of lbian mother and gay father fai (many of which have never lived through the divorce of a heterosexual uple), and as newer studi beg to clu a wir array of ntrol groups. Other cricisms have been that most studi have been based on relatively small sampl, that there have been difficulti wh asssment procr employed some studi, and that the classifitn of parents as lbian, gay, or heterosexual has been problematic. An expert readg of the Sarantakos article reveals that certa characteristics of s methodology and sample are highly likely to have skewed the rults and renred them an valid ditor of the well-beg of children raised by gay and lbian parents at least three rpects:.
LBIAN AND GAY PARENTG
The children raised by gay and lbian parents experienced unually high levels of extreme social ostracism and overt hostily om other children and parents, which probably acunted for the former's lower levels of teractn and social tegratn wh peers (see pp. Most or all of the children beg raised by gay and lbian parents, but not the children beg raised by heterosexual married parents, had experienced parental divorce, which is known to rrelate wh poor adjtment and amic performance.
Some nonscientific anizatns have attempted to nvce urts that there is an actual scientific dispute this area by cg rearch performed by Pl Cameron as supportg the existence of fics gay and lbian parents or their children pared to heterosexual parents or their children. Three ncerns have historilly been associated wh judicial cisn makg ctody ligatn and public polici erng foster re and adoptn: the belief that lbians and gay men are mentally ill, that lbians are ls maternal than heterosexual women, and that lbians' and gay men's relatnships wh sexual partners leave ltle time for ongog parent-child teractns (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Falk, 1989, 1994; Patterson et al., 2002; Patterson & Reddg, 1996).